Beach goers wade into the water despite a stingray caution sign that is displayed on the beach at Bolsa Chica State Beach Wednesday. ANGELA PIAZZA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

About stingrays

They spend the majority of their time inactive, partially buried in sand, often moving only with the sway of the tide.

The stingray's color is similar to the seafloor, allowing it to be camouflaged from predatory sharks and larger rays.

Their flattened bodies are made up of pectoral fins joined to their head and trunk with its tail trailing behind.

Did you know?

Ancient Greek dentists used the venom from the stingray's spine as an anesthetic.

Stats:

Average life span in the wild: 15 to 25 years

Size: up to 6.5 feet long; 22 feet wide

Weight: up to 790 lbs

Source: National geographic.com and Bolsa Chica lifeguards

Stingray injuries at Bolsa Chica

August 2013: 443

August 2012: 91

June-August 2013: 911

June-August 2012: 322

Stingray injuries in Seal Beach

Seal Beach is home to "Ray Bay," and accounts for about one-third of the nation's stingray hits. Experts at Cal State Long Beach estimate anywhere from 16,000 to 40,000 stingrays make a home in Seal Beach waters.

Here's how many stingray injuries have happened through the years in Seal Beach:

1997: 135

1998: 197

1999: 283

2000: 362

2001: 232

2002: 250

2003: 155

2004: 325

2005: 317

2006: 265

2007: 417

2008: 496

2009: 455

2010: 410

2011: 519

2012: 434

2013 year to date: 272

At first, Ashley Kingsbury said, it felt like a razor, as if someone had cut the bottom of her foot.

Then the blazing hot throbbing started between her toes, where a small dot shows where she was pricked by a stingray's tail. As she hobbled out of the water at Bolsa Chica State Beach, that's when the pain set in.

“It feels like a knife is stabbing you from the inside out,” said Kingsbury, her foot sitting in a plastic-lined bucket with 100-degree water.

The conditions were perfect for the beginning surfer to hop on a surfboard to try to take a few waves – the surf was small, the weather warm and the water temperature was starting to warm up.

But under the ocean's shallow surface lurks a flat fish that will strike if stepped on, its pointy tail causing enough pain to make even the toughest of men tear up when the sharp barb pierces the foot or ankle. Stingrays are not aggressive by nature, but if threatened they will strike with their whip-like tail, its stinger covered in a protein that increases pain to the victim.

At Bolsa Chica State Beach, the number of stingray injuries has surged in the past few weeks, prompting officials to put up warnings at the entrance where beachgoers pay to enter and at various spots along the sand. So far this August, nearly 450 injuries have been reported to lifeguards – almost five time the number of last August, when 91 people sought help. The numbers this summer have been up dramatically since June, with 911 stings verses 322 last year in the same timeframe.

“We have to do our due diligence to make sure people know it's happening,” said Bolsa Chica lifeguard Chief Jeffrey David.

With the warm holiday weekend on the horizon – Labor Day being one of the busiest beach weekends of the year – the stingray treatment rooms at lifeguard stations along many O.C. beaches will surely be busy.

“It's just nonstop, it's constant,” Bolsa Chica lifeguard Heather Thomson said of the victims seeking relief. “I think this is going to be another busy weekend.”

Joshua Gonzalez, a 17-year-old from Norwalk, hopped into the room, the bottom of his foot bright red and swollen, a deep hole from where the stinger hit.

“Welcome to stingray heaven,” Kingsbury said to Gonzalez as he put his foot under hot water.

Gonzalez saw the warning signs, but still went into the water to help his girlfriend, who he said isn't a strong swimmer. He usually does the “stingray shuffle,” but lifted her up as a wave came, and both of them were lifted from the ocean floor by the wave.

“When I came down, I must have stepped on it,” he said.

People's reactions after being stung can vary.

“I've seen 3-year-old girls say ‘it's not that bad,' and big, buff guys crying, kneeled over sobbing,” said Thomson.

Related Links

Beach goers wade into the water despite a stingray caution sign that is displayed on the beach at Bolsa Chica State Beach Wednesday. ANGELA PIAZZA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Ashley Kingsbury runs hot water over her foot in the first aid room of the Bolsa Chica lifeguard headquarters after being stung by a stingray Wednesday afternoon. ANGELA PIAZZA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An informational sign about stingrays hangs on the wall inside the Bolsa Chica lifeguard headquarters' first aid room while Joshua Gonzalez, 17, soaks his foot in a bucket of hot water after being stung by a stingray while wading in the ocean. ANGELA PIAZZA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Joshua Gonzalez, 17, from Norwalk, gets first aid at the Bolsa Chica lifeguard headquarters after getting stung by a stingray on his foot while wading in the ocean. ANGELA PIAZZA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Ashley Kingsbury shows off where she got stung by a stingray, in between her toes, at Bolsa Chica's lifeguard headquarters Thursday. Kingsbury was stung while surfing. ANGELA PIAZZA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Ashley Kingsbury runs hot water over her foot in the first aid room of the Bolsa Chica lifeguard headquarters after being stung by a stingray Wednesday afternoon. ANGELA PIAZZA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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